Morning journal and courier., 1887-08-13
A BIG FIRE HIN P1rTsBURG.
Flames Raging i'm the Very Heart of the City and the Losses Will Foot Up aI Least a Million.

1 Flames Raging i'm the Very Heart of
 the City and the Losses Will Foot l Up at Least a Million.
 | PITTsBURG. Aug. 12.-The most disastrous fire that has occurred in this city for years is now raging in the heart of the city and the ! damage will reach up in the millions. Just | before 10 o'clock tonight smoke was dis | covered issuing from the roof of Masonic Hall on Fifth avenue. The fire seemed to be ! in the second story, which was occupied by Campbell & Dick as carpet wareroom. An alarm was sounded and the fire department
 responded promptly, but before they arrived
 the rear portion of the building was burn
 ing. In short time the flames spread to
 Hamilton's magnificent nine-story building adjoining and by il o'clock the flames had reached such proportions that the entire fire department of the city was called out. At 11:45 Schmidt & Fridays building, another fine structure nine stories high, caught fire from the intense heat, and in ten minutes more the Dispatch building was in flames. These buildings are now burning fercely and at midnight there are no indications of the fire being controlled. It is feared half the block on the north side of Fifth avenue be- tween Smith6eld and Wood streets is doomed. This property is the most valuable in the city. Grave fears are entertained from sparks, which are flying in every direction. Residents and owners of property for half mile around are on the roofs extinguishing the sparks with buckets of water. On Virgin Alley, in the rear of the Masonic Hall, number of tenement houses have been de- ef- foy less. So far no casualties have been report. ed. rumor is af1oat that the fire was the work of incendiaries and that it was started for the purpose of robbery.
 LATER-It was a little after nine o'clock tonight when the big bell in City Hall tower brought out the number of box 24. Four hours later the center of the square bounded by Fifth avenue, Wood and Smith6eld streets and Virgin Alley was smouldering ruin and a million dollars worth of property had been consumed. It was the most disastrous fire since the great Pittsburg riots, decade ago. The flames started in the rear of the Masonic building, presumably in the basement of Campbell & Dicks car pet store. On three sides were solid brick buildings encompassing quarter of an acre of finder boxes. Alarm after alarm followed each other and within forty-fve minutes fire districts were on the ground. But hose and engines and trucks and aAes were powerlees to deal with the blazing fur mace that glowered and seethed de- fance to two score nozzles in the hands of 8 hundred fremen. On the east side was the loftiest building in the city, the Hamilton, which lowered nine stories above the flames that licked its base. Seven stories from the ground it presentsd a solid wall of brick which offered no open in for the fremen to work upon that side. A long ladder was run up the rear and a detail of fremen slowly toiled upward with line of pipe When the fifth story windows had been almost reached the water was turned on at a frightful pressure. The shock al- most hurled the men from the ladder. After struggle the fremen had to give it up and the water was turned over, leaving the flames to find their way down through the lower stories. At this hour (2:30 8. m.) the flames are vnder control, but the fire is not extinguished. The Hamilton building, Mosonic Hall and number of tenements on Virgin Alley are destroyed. The three upper stories of Schmidt & Fridays nine story building are in flames. The lower stories are so damaged with water that the loss could not be much greater if they had been burned. The Dispatch building was on fire score or times, but prompt work prevented it's destruction. The structure is water soaked and no paper will be issued Saturday morning. It is difficult to estimate the loss at this time as all is confusion. A safe estimate, however, will place the figures at $1 100000. The origin of the fire is unknown. The rumor that it is the work of incendiaries for the purpose of robbery cannot be traced. Samuel Hamilton, owner of the Hamilton building. was dealer in pianos and estimates his loss at $130, 1000; Campbell & Dick theirs at $200,000; H. Haltzman, upholsterer, loss $30,000. The loss on Masonic Hall is probably $75, 1000. The damage to Schmidt & Fridays building, the Despatch and the liquor stock of the former, together with the office tenants, will swell the amounts to the borders of six and